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Sewing With Knits

5 Wardrobe Essentials

Stretch your sewing skills by making a soft T-shirt, comfy yoga pants, a fleecy hoodie or a flowing dress with Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated.

Don't let stretchy knits intimidate you. Meg McElwee sets you free with easy patterns for the most comfortable clothing you'll ever make. Follow along as she shows you how to create a fleecy hoodie, T-shirts, shorts and a dress. She'll give you tips for reinforcing seams without a serger and how to customize each garment. As a bonus, you'll learn how to dye your finished pieces.

Lesson 9. Surplice Dress

Lesson 10. Bonus: Cloth Dyeing

"Though I have sewn for many years, I have not had much experience with knits and have found this class extremely helpful in taking away that fear and providing practical, easy instructions on how to sew knits successfully. ... Thanks so much for this wonderful class." - PeakageFlorida

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Lesson plan

18:17

Lesson 1. Introduction

Meet Meg and learn the benefits of sewing with knits.

51:56

Lesson 2. Fabric Primer

Explore the many varieties of knit fabric, including jersey, silk and spandex.

47:55

Lesson 3. Supplies

Find out what tools and settings you'll need to sew knits.

29:47

Lesson 4. Starting the Fleece Hoodie

Determine what size of hoodie you'd like to make, then prep your fabric for sewing.

45:08

Lesson 5. Sewing the Fleece Hoodie

Sew together the hood, bodice and sleeves of your hoodie. Meg also walks you through hemming.

35:53

Lesson 6. Scoop-Neck T-Shirt

Sew a scoop-neck T-shirt from knit fabric and learn the twin-needle hemming technique with Meg's help.

Lesson 10. Bonus: Cloth Dyeing

Meg McElwee, Instructor of Sewing With Knits

Meg McElwee is the owner and designer of Sew Liberated, an indie pattern shop, as well as the author of the books Sew Liberated and Growing Up Sew Liberated.

Ratings & reviews

Class rating

(228 reviews)

Good Class

by suzannesweets on June 27, 2015

To be honest I need a little hand holding while sewing. For instance, I'm uncomfortable with the pdf patterns in general and Meg touched on that. I'm a beginner and self taught (thanks to Craftsy) and I can't wait to start one of her projects. I'm learning a lot and it's nice to know there are some earth mothers out there in the world. I hope to see Meg in more classes on Craftsy and I'm sure she will teach like no ones business!

To be honest I need a little hand holding while sewing. For instance, I'm uncomfortable with the pdf patterns in general and Meg touched on that. I'm a beginner and self taught (thanks to Craftsy) and I can't wait to start one of her projects. I'm learning a lot and it's nice to know there are some earth mothers out there in the world. I hope to see Meg in more classes on Craftsy and I'm sure she will teach like no ones business!

Happy with results!

by amylamp on May 18, 2015

I've tried sewing with knits in the past and been extremely frustrated by poor results. But after following Meg's instructions, full of helpful tips, techniques, and proper tools, I felt so much more prepared and was able to successfully sew together the scoop neck tee. Her calm demeanor helped alleviate my anxiety and apprehension about trying knits again. She taught me to be much more Zen about it, so even if there are hiccups, I'll know it'll all be OK :)

I've tried sewing with knits in the past and been extremely frustrated by poor results. But after following Meg's instructions, full of helpful tips, techniques, and proper tools, I felt so much more prepared and was able to successfully sew together the scoop neck tee. Her calm demeanor helped alleviate my anxiety and apprehension about trying knits again. She taught me to be much more Zen about it, so even if there are hiccups, I'll know it'll all be OK :)

Good information

by lostchyld on May 15, 2015

I found this class informative and engaging. It was very information dense and I had to watch each lesson in several sittings.

This is the first time I've used the video note feature for more than just marking a place while I skip around. Specifically, the basic tools section is packed with notes.

The patterns included are clear although they do assume you can assemble a basic garment. The video segments discussing them refer back to previous sections in discussing ...

I found this class informative and engaging. It was very information dense and I had to watch each lesson in several sittings.

This is the first time I've used the video note feature for more than just marking a place while I skip around. Specifically, the basic tools section is packed with notes.

The patterns included are clear although they do assume you can assemble a basic garment. The video segments discussing them refer back to previous sections in discussing the techniques, so video notes are a must.

This class encourages use of Craftsy's great platform. I would recommend it to beginner/intermediate sewists who have no or only a little experience with knits.